First Archimpressions: Street Fighter IV

 Back to the past, I guess?

 Tales of Xillia is taking forever to arrive, and my free time is running out, so... yeah, I just said "Let's get this game done with". And here I am. Super Street Fighter IV makes this one obsolete, right? Eh... Mostly, yes, mostly, but Street Fighter IV actually has a few unique things going for it. For example, gallery mode, you can watch any and every movie that you've unlocked, which is actually pretty cool, except that I bet no one will ever use it. Still, it's there and SSFIV lacks it. Then there's Survival and time Attack modes, I haven't played them yet, but those modes are gone in SSFIV, sadly.
 Otherwise, it's the same game, but with less characters. And most properties and values are different, so on a high-level enviroment, it's a whole different game(Sagat OP). And yeah, I'm done.

Month Overview: Game of August

 Games completed in August:
Dynasty Warriors 6                                            6
Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition                                            5
Kengo: Master of Bushido                                            5
Evoland                                            7
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger                                            9
Way of the Samurai                                           7

 Check that out, I played the same amount of games I did last month! Cool, and I wasn't busy last month! This month I got a new computer. A real computer. So I played loads of games I couldn't before(Like Team Fortress 2), pretty cool. Games there months were merely alright, with the surprising standout Call of Juarez: GunSilinger, that game was badass. Evoland was a game I've wanted to play for so long, but my computer wouldn't handle it, so I was a but hyped for it, luckily, it delivered.
 On other news, I finally got vanilla Street Fighter IV! And a Bakugan game. I don't even like Bakugan, but it was new and very, very cheap(12 bucks), so... yeah. This week I should be getting Tales of Xillia, hope I have enough time to play it and make Archview #50, but since I finally(really long story, this year shall be remembered as my unluckiest year ever. Ever. Almost. 2nd at least.) started classes... it's gonna be tough.

 Game of the Month:

 This game was awesome. It was fantastic. I seriously can't say enough good things about it. It has it's little flaws, like the AI, keeping it from a perfect score, but it's 100% recommendable. So, yeah. That short.
 Runner-up:

 Initial impressions? Alright game. As you play it, you then realize that, hey, it's really good. It's really short too, but you can play through it in many, MANY different ways and thus influence how the story flows in equally many ways. Really interesting premise, and great delivery. The presentation is really dated though, but real gamers don't care about that.

Archview #49: Way of the Samurai

 Live by the sword, and leave a mark in history. Or not. It's up to you really.

 Way of the Samurai is a third person action-adventure game set in feudal Japan. You take the role of a nameless ronin as he arrives at Rokkotsu Pass, a place which is soon to see itself amidst warring clans and other unpleasantries. You will spend two days in this place, and your actions will determine how it all pans out, want to do nothing and watch it all unfold? You can. Want to fight and kill every NPC that crosses your path? You can. Unless they play a big role later, in which case you'll probably get to fight them later. Or not. You really have a lot of choices and options as how you want to go about each day, and that's really cool.
 As for the game itself, Rokkotsu Pass has about 6 different zones, and you are free to travel anywhere almost any time you want. Zones are big enough as to let you explore at your leisure, although they don't hold many secrets. You'll also get yourself involved in many conversations, and every now and then you get to answer. Answers carry weight here, so answer accordingly! Besides exploring, you'll probably see yourself involved in fights, in which case your Ronin has access to weak attacks, strong attacks, parries, kicking, blocking and jumping. You can also pick up objects like boxes or chairs and throw them, or food and restore your health. Combat is very intuitive, and feels nice. There's about 7 different movesets depending on your sword, which you can carry up to three of, and they are pretty varied.

 When fighting enemies, they will attack you one on one, following their code of honor, so you won't get mobbed upon. When fighting, you must also keep track of the tension on your sword. Having your attacks blocked, specially Strong attacks, makes the tension increase, fill the tension gauge and you lose a point of durability, if the durability drops to zero, your sword breaks. There are dozens of unique swords, each one carried by one of the unique NPCs, and if you want their sword you will have to kill them. There's also a Smithy that can enhance your sword, if you can pay his services(Or kill him if you don't have enough money to pay, he asks for the money after enhancing your sword after all).
 The game is very short, 2 hours or less short, but it's fun comes from it's replayability. There's about 6 different endings, and there are loads upon loads of factors that change the endings, change conversations or even conditions, even after finishing the game 6 times, there's stuff I haven't even seen! There's many unlockables too, from different heads and outfits, to a versus mode and characters for it, but it takes a lot of playthroughs to unlock, and I do mean a lot. It's also pretty unforgiving, while you can beg for your life if a fight isn't going your way, dying means losing all three of the swords you are carrying, and every time you continue your file, it gets deleted, so no save scumming!

 Way of the Samurai is a very old game, and a very plain looking one. It's not ugly, but it's boring. Characters are very simple, and so are the backgrounds themselves. The game also uses a very drab color scheme, so nothing really stands out. There's not a whole lot of music, but it's actually quite good. There's no voice acting, and considering the amount of unskipabble text there is added to how boringly characters flop their lips make for a very boring looking game. Disappoingly, while there are so many endings, all of them are images with text, and many of them share some images. Oh, and typos, there are more than a couple of them.
 As for complaints, the only real issue is the camera. Outdoors is fine, you use the right analog stick and move it around, a bit unwieldy but fine, but on some areas, mostly indoors, the camera switches angles(which you can't change) along the directional imputs, which make for some annoying moment where you try to move to another area, only for the angle and imputs to change and turn around. Very annoying.
 So yeah, it's an ugly, plain looking game. It's also very short, if you are not into replaying, don't even bother, it lasts 2 hours or less. But it's also very fun, combat feels just right, and collecting swords on each playthrough gets addictive.
 7 out of 10.

Archview #48: Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

 Spoilers: I loved this game.

 Call of Juarez has a rather spotty reputation, with the third entry considered by many to be quite awful. For some reason, they decided to scale back on the budget for the fourth entry and went digital only, while approaching the series from a new angle. And the end result, frankly, I think is fantastic.
 Like previous games in the series, Gunslinger is a first person shooter with emphasis on Single player. And by emphasis, I mean that the only multiplayer of sorts to be found are the leaderboards where you can compare scores.

 There are three different modes: Story, Arcade and Duel. Story Mode is the meat and potatoes of the game, here you take control of Silas Greaves, an old cowboy who stopped by a bar and is now telling of his exploits. His adventures takes him to do battle with real life cowboys, like the Daltons, Jesse James and Butch Cassidy. The most interesting gimmick of this mode, is that it's basically a story, so sometimes Silas may remember that something happened in another way, or he could be corrected by other people that read about the ocurrance, thus altering the mission. Throughout each chapter, there are secret objects that grant the player Experience points, used to unlock skills from three different branches, and also give you little tidbits of history.
 Arcade Mode is more of an endurance round, there's about 10 different stages in which you must kill every enemy or outlast every wave of enemies. In this mode, you can choose from three different classes, each one has a different experience bar and skills to unlock, and a different starting weapons, though you can pick up weapons from fallen enemies. Then there's Duel, in which, as the name implies, duel other enemies in stand offs, there really isn't much to this mode, but it's there.

 The game plays like most other Modern First Person Shooters, you can only take a handful of weapons with yourself and your health regenerates if you don't take damage after a while. Besides Dynamite, which acts like grenades, Silas can carry two different types of weapons: Revolvers(Can be dual Wielded) and a Rifle or a Shotgun. There are not many weapons, but there are few variations(3 kinds of revolvers, both normal and sawed-off versions of the Rifle and the Shotgun), still, they feel good, which is what matters. Silas also has something called "Sense of Death", it regenerates with time, and when it's full, it let's you dodge a fatal shot. Then there is concentration, which fills by killing enemies, that allows you to slow down time and marks the enemies in red so that you can aim at them more easily.
 The presentation is easily one of the game best assets. The game has a cell-shaded look which looks fantastic. While the models for the common enemies are few, each major enemy looks really good. Character designs are pretty snazzy, and whenever a new character is introduced, he gets a pretty stylish intro. The stages themselves are very westerny, and many stages are a joy to look at, even though invisible walls("You are deviating from the story") keep you from going everywhere, are quite huge. Voice-Acting gets the job done, Silas is the one you will be hearing the most, and he makes for a great narrator. As for the music, it's very westerny and fits quite nicely. As for extras, most chapters are named after Western movies, so if you are into the genre, it's a pretty cool nod.

 There's not a whole lot of replay value, although you do get a New Game Plus, with increased experience gain and you get to keep all your upgrades. There's also three different difficulty settings, if you are into it. For what it's worth, there are many secrets, and the game last quite a lot, plus, it's score-based gameplay lends itself to repeated playthroughs, and Arcade Mode is a blast!. There's not much to complain about, maybe how some stages reuse assets, but then again it's a downloadable game with loads of content, or how the AI may sometimes spaz out. Honestly, neither thing bothered me, definitly one of my favorite games I've played this year.
 9 out of 10.

Bound in Paper Quickie #10: Batman and Robin Volume 3

 The best one yet.

 (Includes issues #9 to 12 plus issue #0)
 Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
 Artist: Patrick Gleason
 These issues sees the dynamic duo tackle a group of criminals that are using Batman's symbol in order to cause havoc. What makes these criminals special, is that all of them have been injured and scarred for life by Batman and Robin, and now want revenge. There's also a more interesting sub plot that deals with Damian trying to prove he is the better Robin, as he challenges each ex Robin in duels of varying nature.
 As for the art, I really don't have much to say, it's what you have come to expect from Gleason. Ugly faces, but many dynamic angles and perspectives.
 I give it 10 Nightwings out of 10.

Bound in Paper Quickie #9: Batman and Robin Volume 2

 It gets better.

 (Includes issues 5 to 8)
 Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
 Artist: Patrick Gleason
 Continuing from where we last left off, Robin left to join Nobody, as he attempts to "free" him from the self imposed shackles Batman got him to wear. These issues have loads of action and loads of tender moments between Bruce, Alfred and Damian. It also explores a bit of Bruce's past, giving him a bit more depth, plus visiting Bruce's morale and why he chooses not to kill. Sadly, it also has a very cheesy moment, "Forgive me father, for I have sinned"? Seriously?
 Gleason's art started to grow on me, while I still dislike his faces, everything else is pretty on point. Batman VS Nobody was pretty epic. There's also a lot of neat visual treats throught the issue, so I'd say it's pretty nice.
 I award it 9 Batarangs out of 10.

Bound in Paper Quickie #8: Batman and Robin Volume 1

 The Dark Knight gets a reboot too!

 (Includes volume 1 to 4)
 Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
 Artist: Patrick Gleason
 Not much has changed in Batman's world, the biggest change would probably be when and how Bruce met the four Robins. Regardless, these four volumes centers upon the eponymous heroes, as they try their mettle against "Nobody"(I read the Spanish translation, so maybe his name might be different), a phantom of sorts from Bruce's past. The story itself is pretty interesting, and the interactions between characters fantastic. Alfred proves to be quite snarky, Damian delightfully aprehensive and Bruce very stiff and brooding, just like they should.
 As for the art, it's not my cup of tea, I'm not a fan of Gleason's faces, but the style is fit for Batman. There are loads of blacks, particularily in the Manor scenes. Something I liked a lot, is how many of these blacks are avoided in daylight outdoors scenes, makes a nice contrast.
 I grant it 9 Red Hoods out of 10.